Countrymouse Posted November 2018
On My Mind
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Replacing the much lamented 'On My Mind' profile option, this thread is for musings, jottings, whimsies, preoccupations and the rest of the thesaurus for anyone to jot down anything they please.
I can't remember what the maximum character count was before, can anyone else? But anyway it wasn't very many so let's keep to that.
Things are different after Katrina. Before Katrina many people did what we refer to as vertical evacuation. Going to relatives or friends who have an upstairs and riding out the storm. Katrina wasn’t a storm to ride out.
I was swimming at a friend’s house when my godson called me on my cell phone and said. “Hey, they just did a special alert on television. Are you going to get your mom to evacuate? The storm is heading directly for us.”
I thanked him for calling me and I immediately went to Mom’s house to pick her up. We didn’t have a lot of time to pack up much.
Rooms were booking up quickly, but we were able to get a hotel suite in Texas. Since we were in Texas, I called a friend of mine that lived near me in New Orleans before she moved to Houston to have lunch.
She insisted that she wanted us to go and stay with her. She lives in a huge Texas mansion. She is a sweetheart. She had people before us staying with her and people after we left staying with her.
When we were watching the footage of the storm on television, we could see that Mom’s house was in a hard hit area. Mom was devastated but we were all glad to be alive. So many people died in Katrina.
It was strange when we were able to return to the city. New Orleans looked like a war zone. Nothing was in operation.
Seeing my childhood home completely destroyed was quite emotional for me.
The bizarre thing was that my graduation photograph was the only thing that was remaining on the wall! It was crooked but it was still on the wall.
My godson laughed and said that I was a survivor for sure when he saw my picture on the wall.
usually the hurricanes are weaker by the time they reach up north . But we have had some bad ones too . But we don’t live below sea level like your city , flooding isn’t usually as bad as it is by you . Winds bring down big trees and power lines . The closest I ever lived to the beach on Long Island was about 3 miles and my house was on a hill ,we never flooded .
I now live in a large valley in PA. Lots of creeks do flood often . I bought a house on a street that is up high on a hill about a half mile from frequent flooding , so I’m good .
However when it floods we do have to take other routes to get places .
Also water doesn’t burn you . Fire is the worst IMO .
After going through hurricane Katrina, I am not as willing as you are to take hurricanes that easily! 😝
Mom lost her home in Katrina. Nine feet of water in it after the levee broke.
I was almost 10 years old when hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans. We had water in the streets but not in our house. The power was out for a few weeks. My parents were the only ones that had a gas refrigerator and neighbors brought food to our house for us to store.
Betsy was a fierce storm but it was nothing compared to the destruction of hurricane Katrina.
Geeeeez, what next?
I have been getting repeated texts saying that I have a package that couldn’t be delivered and that they are holding it. A link is attached.
My husband gets these texts messages on his phone also. We aren’t waiting for any deliveries. It’s yet another scam.
I have had my gmail account hacked before and a loan was made in my name. I don’t click on anything! The scammers do the online overnight loans.
These overnight loan companies don’t verify information and they approve the loan. I have since blocked my credit with all three credit bureaus.
The detective that handled my case said that he had a room full of cops working on fraudulent cases.
It’s hard to keep up with all of these scams!
But it’s rare that they are so severe . I don’t like the occasional tornadoes . The occasional earthquakes here are mild so far .
Glad your stock did well. That’s an amazing story.
No-one asked about the stock!! That’s in spite of many site comments about me being a bit cold-blooded about dealing with ferals. It’s all relative, isn’t it? All our sheep ‘saved themselves’ and none had to be shot. We had also opened all the right gates in advance so that they had options to choose from – stony ground, bare tracks etc. But that was a bit of a miracle. A neighbor a couple of miles away had no feed but a fenced area, and we moved them down the road and fed out there for a few weeks, until we got some of the fences repaired. The roving police turned a blind eye to us, the sheep and the non-road-registered quad bikes we were using to move them, the morning after the fire.
Lots of issues to remember. Best wishes again, Margaret
So sorry about the fires in your area. It is devastating to endure these kinds of natural disasters.
They are delicious! 😋
We are staggered to see internet pictures of houses surrounded by trees, access tracks with trees on both sides, built at the top of slopes - fires go faster up slopes, you won’t get a fire truck up a track burning on both sides, and a house surrounded by trees is undefendable. No wonder people are told to evacuate! We have instructions on how to survive if you don’t evacuate, and houses that are well prepared and actively defended are first priority for the firies to help. We saved our farmhouse, when the second house on the property burned down flat – we had decided in advance which one to save, and we knew exactly what to do. I was ‘showered’ by the water bomber that came to help at the end. Afterwards, every boundary and paddock fence was totalled – stock everywhere!
I can’t help but wonder about the planning rules for new west coast developments, and about the information that is freely available about fire risks. ‘Surrounded by nature’ sounds nice, until nature is on fire. It’s awful, but even more awful than it ought to be. The more places at serious risk, the thinner the resources are stretched. I sincerely hope that you cope as well as possible, and that everyone else involved also copes successfully. Very best wishes, Margaret
New Orleans relies heavily on tourism. Yes, things are expensive for the most part and especially in tourist areas.
I hope that you had a good time while visiting.
sorry just saw this , I hope your family are safe and the fires subside . It seems like the fires just ended from last time . 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Prayers sent for you and your family to remain safe.
Lord, I proofread and somehow my stupid autocorrect plays tricks on me. I swear it is hexed! LOL 😝
I hope that you know that I typed mediate and not meditate. My autocorrect is DUMB!!! Why in the world would it be changed to meditate? LOL 😝
Natural disasters are always a concern for many of us. It seems like every area has there issues. Ours is hurricanes, flooding and occasional tornadoes.
Wildfires are very frightening. Sending prayers for people in your area to be safe. I agree with evacuation when it becomes necessary.
On my mind here, the Ft Mc wildfire grew from about 6500 hectares to over 9500 hectares yesterday. The winds are pushing it towards the city and they are expecting a difficult fire fighting day today. Not a good scenario. I wouldn't like to see the people of Ft Mc go through another evac.
It certainly is interesting that troubling times will either bring a family closer together or it will tear them apart. It depends on the dynamics of the particular family.
Sorry that your sister is caught in the crossfire. Sometimes, the people who try to meditate are often attacked.
Hoping that things ease up soon for your sister.
Thankful today the smoke is less - still here but not at dangerous levels.
I agree with you. We always have to honor our feelings.
It‘a normal for certain thoughts to enter our minds from time to time. I’m like you are. I don’t dwell on past hurt.
Dealing with mental illness isn’t something that can be fixed easily if at all.
It will be wonderful having your daughter live close by. Is this your daughter that had breast cancer? How is she doing these days?
On days like Mother's Day, sometimes (not always by any means) I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't had a mentally ill, abusive mother. However, I also remember the things I learned from her and am thankful - so mixed feelings. I am grateful for my kids, but still am sad that I lost my youngest aged 23. So it is not a happy. happy day for me - again mixed feelings. And that's OK! I know there are others here who have been through or are going through the same thing.
Today is a quiet day for me, and the first Mother's Day not spent in the family home of over 40 years. It is a time for reflection. Had I been there, my dd and I would have taken each other out for a meal. I have good memories of many meals out together. I am happy to have a quiet day, happy to have time to reflect and things to reflect on. I remember gorgeous cards my youngest son sent me, walks in the quiet woods with my middle son and our bird-chasing spaniel, lunches and great conversations with my oldest son, my dgds birthday where I batted balloons at the kids, my dgd's birthdays where I always wore the same dress but changed my earrings and more... I have that dress on today. I look forward to my dd and hub moving down here so we can do celebratory family meals again.
So for all those having a hard time, mixed feelings today for whatever reason, it's OK. ((((((hugs)))) to you